East Texas Yamboree in Gilmer, Texas

The East Texas Yamboree is held in mid-October in Gilmer, Texas. You can visit their website at www.yamboree.com or check out the comments at the bottom of this page to see if this year’s exact date has been published.

The 2010 Gilmer, Texas Yamboree will be held Wednesday, October 20 – Saturday, October 23. This seems a few days late to me (Especially with 2009’s Yamboree taking place October 11 – 17). But I have high hopes of it being a fun-filled event!

I would like to take this opportunity to say “Hi” to all of the visitors I see coming in from the Gilmer, Texas area. I can’t wait to see y’all again! I have tried to come every year since 2001.

The East Texas Yamboree’s midway is usually provided by Crabtree Amusement. The food, the entertainment, the ride selection, and the games are wonderful! It is where my daughter got her first taste of cotton candy and where I learned what a mess blue cotton candy coloring can really make.

Highlights include a school / homecoming parade on Friday morning, live music, and delicious yams. I have always enjoyed a good sweet potato, but I never knew how good they could be before I purchased one from a small concession stand at the Yamboree. — The perfect meal to warm you up on a cool October evening.

Anyone planning to be town help at this event should be ready to work long hours. The year I worked there – on the last day I had to be to my concession stand by 8AM and wasn’t officially finished working until 3 or 4 AM the next day. But it was so worth it to be a part of such a spectacular small-town event!

I know what you mean Chery. … Usually the Gilmer, TX Yamboree is one of the highlights of the year for my family and me. This year, there were enough good parts to make the trip worth-while, but I was disappointed. I guess for me one of the main disappointments was that NONE of the close friends I wanted to see were still there. In fact, Crabtree Amusements was only providing about half of the midway.

Both of the shows that were there had some wonderful employees. That lady at the duck pond was one of my favorites. — I can’t wait to go back in 2010 and see how well they make up for the problems of 2009.

I was at the Yamboree in Gilmer for the first time in many years this past October 17 and I was very disappointed at some of the things I saw. I saw a few rides that looked like they had come from the 60’s. More dirty looking than rusty. A friend of mine said that the “hammer” (that is what we used to call it) was only working at half capacity and I saw a man at the fun house that looked more like a homeless man. I also saw some of the bumber cars that did not work. Well, if they did not work, take them off the floor and make more room for the other cars to run around in.

That friend of mine who was upset about the hammer is a DJ for a radio station in Arkansas. He brought his whole family down just for the Yamboree. I was listening to his show on Monday the 19th (on the internet) and he stated on the air what he saw and then said “Thank You” to those events in Arkansas that have rides like these. Stating this would never happen with them.

On a positive side, there was a black lady working the ducks in the “chance” area and she was real sweet and super great with my kids. After all the other things I saw, it was refreshing to have come across her.

I was hesitant to purchase any tickets for my kids, but finally did in the kiddy section. My teenage daughter would not get on any of them. She said they did not look trustworthy to her. That within itself says a lot. Especially when my daughter is a thrill seeker.

I doubt we will be back for many years, but in the mean time, maybe these will get better before we return or before the next carnival booking.